A network is a collection of links and nodes (i.e.—multiple computers and/or other devices connected together) arranged so that information may be passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links and through various nodes. Examples of networks include the Internet, the public switched telephone network, the global Telex network, computer networks (i.e.—an intranet, an extranet, a local-area network, or a wide-area network), wired networks, and wireless networks.
The Internet is a worldwide network of computers and computer networks arranged to allow the easy and robust exchange of information between users of computers. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have access to computers connected to the Internet via Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Content providers place multimedia information (i.e.—text, graphics, audio, video, animation, and other forms of data) at specific locations on the Internet referred to as websites. The combination of all the websites and their corresponding webpages on the Internet is generally known as the World Wide Web (WWW) or simply the Web.
Websites may be created using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to generate a standard set of tags that define how the webpages for the website are to be displayed. Users of the Internet may access content providers' websites using software known as an Internet browser, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER or NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR. After the browser has located the desired webpage, it requests and receives information from the webpage, typically in the form of an HTML document, and then displays the webpage content for the user. The user may then view other webpages at the same website or move to an entirely different website using the browser.
Browsers are able to locate specific websites because each website on the Internet has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. Each IP address is a 32 bit binary number, but is typically shown in dotted decimal notion (i.e.—192.145.68.112) to improve human readability. IP addresses, however, even in dotted decimal notation, are difficult for people to remember and use. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is much easier to remember and may be used to point to any computer, directory, or file on the Internet. A browser is able to access a website on the Internet through the use of a URL. The URL may include a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request combined with the website's Internet address, also known as the website's domain name. An example of a URL with a HTTP request and domain name is: http://www.companyname.com. In this example, the “http” identifies the URL as a HTTP request and the “companyname.com” is the domain name.
For Internet users and businesses alike, the Internet continues to be increasingly valuable. More people are using the Web for everyday tasks, from shopping, banking, and paying bills to consuming media and entertainment. E-commerce is growing, with businesses delivering more services and content across the Internet, communicating and collaborating online, and inventing new ways to connect with each other.
Websites allow individuals and businesses to share their information with a large number of Internet users. Many products and services are offered for sale on the Internet, thus elevating the Internet to an essential tool of commerce. Internet businesses, whether large corporations or individuals, are rapidly creating websites to take advantage of the growing number of customers using the Internet and customers' increasing willingness to purchase goods and services over the Web. Websites created by Internet businesses may be reached by millions of Internet-savvy customers, thereby allowing Internet businesses to offer their products and services to a very large pool of potential customers.
With the expanding use of websites for commerce, it is important that websites are easy to use and function properly. “Usability” refers to the ease with which people can use a website to achieve a particular goal. It also can refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance. In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability usually refers to the elegance and clarity with which a website is designed.
To assess and improve website usability and functionality, website operators often employ “usability testing,” a means for measuring how well people can use a website. Usability testing may involve watching people use the website for its intended purpose. For example, a website operator may wish to observe an Internet user using the operator's website to measure the relative ease with which it is used. The website operator may also wish to observe the computer screen as the user navigates through the website. If usability testing uncovers difficulties, such as people having difficulty understanding instructions, manipulating links, or interpreting feedback, then developers may improve the website's design and test it again.
It also is important that a website function properly. As a quality assurance measure, a website operator may wish to employ website monitoring to collect real time data about website error type, severity, and/or frequency. Such monitoring may reveal quality-related information about the website. Identified errors may be corrected, thereby improving the website's functionality.
If the website operator is a business, valuable marketing information may be gleaned from the manner in which customers use the website. For example, the amount of time a customer spends looking at an item for sale on a webpage may indicate the desirability of the item. Similarly, the location of the cursor on a webpage may indicate which product in a lineup of products the customer intrinsically prefers.
Presently-existing systems and methods include those that accomplish usability testing by recording screen content and user response (U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,918 to Hamilton, et al.). But these systems and methods do not disclose a website-based system that allows a user to record and submit a recording of his Internet session to the website operator.
In response to the issues discussed above, there is a need for new systems and methods for recording and transmitting a network user's network session including, but not limited to, systems and methods for recording and submitting an Internet user's Internet session to a website operator for usability, quality assurance, or marketing analysis.